The Urskog Høland Railway

A passenger train at Bingsfoss
 
At Sørumsand there is a heritage narrow gauge railway, the Urskog Høland Railway. The journey starts at Sørumsand, and the trains have both 2^nd and 3^rd class accomodation. The railway has one intemediate station at Bingsfoss. The trains run to Fossum, where the locomotive runs round the train. On the return journey you can alight at Bingsfoss, where there is a café, and you can take a later train back to Sørumsand.The gauge is 750 mm. 

Engine No 4, "Setskogen", built by Hartmann in 1909, hauling a freight train up the gradient at Bingsfoss.

 

The Urskog Høland Railway was built to provide a connection from the river Glomma to the Fredrikshald (Halden) Canal. At that time timber was floated on the rivers. The railway was built to transport timber from Glomma to the Fredrikshald (Halden) Canal. Also agricultural products were transported by the railway. The railway was a private company, and built in the cheapest way. The gauge is 750 mm. 

 Skulerud station 27. mai 1907. (Photo: Anders Beer Wilse). From Wikimedia Commons

Sørumsand station 26. May 1907. (Photo: Anders Beer Wilse). From Wikimedia Commons

 

The first part of the railway opened between Bingsfoss and Bjørkelangen on November 14^th 1896. On December 15^th the line was completed to Skulerud. In 1903 the railway was extended from Bingsfoss to Sørumsand. The German factory Hartmann in Chemnitz delivered two steam locomotives in 1895. Baldwin delivered one locomotive in 1898. Six passenger coaches were delivered to the opening. These coaches were built by Skabo in Kristiania (Oslo). From the opening two passenger trains ran in each direction daily. 

 Engine No 7 "Prydz" was built in 1950. 

Crossing at Fossum

"Setskogen" with freight train at Fossum

At Skulerud in the northern end of the lake Rødenessjøen there was connection with the steamboat “D/S Turisten” on the Fredrikshald Canal. “D/S Turisten” (The Tourist) sailed on the Fredrikshald Canal to Tistedalen north of Fredrikshald (Halden). On the canal there were locks at Ørje, Strømsfoss and Brekke. The locks at Brekke are the highest locks in Northern Europe. Many tourists traveled by train from Oslo to Sørumsand and the narrow gauge train to Skulerud, by “D/S Turisten” to Tistedalen and by train back to Oslo. This journey was called  “The Great Round Trip”. 

 One of the preserved passenger coaches with 2nd and 3rd class compartment. 

In the 1920-s and 30-s the railway faced competition from buses and lorries. The trains were slow, and all goods had to be reloaded between standard and narrow gauge wagons at Sørumsand. It was faster to travel by bus, and more goods was sent by lorries.

But during the second world war petrol was difficult to provide and strictly rationed. The traffic on the railway increased during the war. After the war the railway was taken over by the Norwegian State Railways. A steam locomotive was delivered by Henschel in 1950. This was the very last steam locomotive delivered to a Norwegian railway. No modernisation of the line was carried out after the war. The traffic declined, and several trains ran without passengers. In 1960 the line was closed and the tracks were lifted.

Engine No. 4, "Setskogen" at Sørumsand.

Preservation 

After the closure a group of volunteers was formed to preserve a part of the railway. From Sørumsand 3 km of the line was preserved and given to the group along with two steam locomotives. The first steam train on the heritage railway was run in 1966. All the buildings and side tracks have been rebuilt after the heritage railway was established. The line is now re-established to Fossum, where there is a loop for running the locomotive round the train. All the work has been carried out by volunteers.

The railway can easily be reached from Oslo by train to Sørumsand. The trains run on sundays in the summer. 

Shunting at Sørumsand. Stop signal is given.

Norway’s Longest Museum

Norwegian-built steam engines No. 225 class 21b and No. 236 class 24b hauling a train on the Krøderen Railway. 

In 1868 the railway from Drammen via Hokksund, Vikersund and Hønefoss to Randsfjord was completed. The railway connected the city of Drammen with two lakes, Randsfjorden and Sperillen, where there were connections with steamboats on the lakes. The railway was built as a narrow gauge. The gauge was 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm). The locomotives for the railway were small, and all of them were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co in Manchester. The railway to Krøderen was built as a branch line, and opened in 1872, and was built with the same gauge as the line to Randsfjord. An intermediate station was built at Snarum. Thera were also established intermediate halts at Hære, Sysle, Morud and Kløftefoss. Krøderen station is located in the south end of the lake Krøderen, and there was connection with steamboats on the lake. The steamboats sailed on the lake to Noresund and Gulsvik.

Snarum station ca 1880. From Wikimedia Commons, unknown photographer.

 

At the same time there were built a railway line from Hokksund to Kongsberg and a line from Drammen to Christiania (Oslo). Both lines were built with 3 ft 6 in gauge. From the autumn 1872 two trains ran between Christiania (Oslo) and Randsfjord every day. Passengers to and from Krøderen had to change train at Vikersund. Passengers to the valley Hallingdalen travelled by the steamboat to Gulsvik in the northern end of Krøderen.

Engine No. 225 built by Thune in Oslo in 1911

Connection to Bergen

During the 19^th Century plans were made to build a railway line between Christiania (Oslo) and Bergen. Plans were made to extend the railway line from Krøderen through Hallingdal valley. Instead the Oslo-Bergen route was built from Gulsvik via Hønefoss and Roa to Oslo East station. The railway line from Bergen cross the mountains and to Gulsvik was ready to open in the summer of 1908. The line between Gulsvik via Hønefoss and Roa was not ready yet. The building of the Haversting Tunnel was difficult.

The passengers had to travel by steamboat on Krøderen. An other steamboat was transfered to Krøderen, and direct trains ran between Krøderen station and Oslo the summers of 1908 and 1909. Direct trains ran between Bergen and Gulsvik. In the winters the lake was frozen, and there was no steamboat service on the lake. The railway line to Bergen was built as a standard gauge railway, 4 ft 8 ½ in (1435 mm), and was completed in November 1909. At the same year the Drammen-Randsfjord railway and the branches to Krøderen and Kongsberg were converted to standard gauge. 

 Engine No. 236 outside the engine shed at Krøderen station

Standard gauge

When the railway line between Oslo and Bergen was completed, the line to Krøderen and the steamboats lost most of the passenger traffic. Passengers to and from the valley Hallingdalen could travel by train all the way to Oslo and Drammen. The steamboat service ceased in 1926. Still the Krøderen Railway had freight traffic. Timber trains ran from Krøderen. Two mixed trains carrying passengers and goods ran between Vikersund and Krøderen every day.

In 1948 small diesel railbuses class 87 were put into service on the railway, and several new halts were established. In 1950 six trains ran on the line in each direction daily. Unfortunately the railway line was built in the cheapest way, and the railbuses had to run at a low maximum speed. The road buses could run faster and were cheaper. Even the Norwegian State Railways operated a bus line on the road parallell to the railway line. In spite of protest from residents in the area the passenger service on the railway line ceased in January 1958. The railway to Krøderen was built with light rails and had a low axle load limit. This meant that freight wagons on the railway could not be fully loaded. In 1967 there was built a new road, and it was cheaper to transport timber with lorries than trains. The freght traffic declined, and was ceased in 1985.

Engine No. 11 with a teak-bodied passenger coach at Krøderen station in 2006. The coach was put into service on the railway this year, and volunteers have spent about 10 000 hours to restore the coach. 

Museum

In the meantime the Norwegian Railway Club had preserved steam locomotives, passenger coaches and freight wagons. The line to Krøderen was preserved as a museum railway, and the railway is now operated by volunteers. Every Sunday you can travel on the train. The railway has an unique collection og teak-bodied passenger coaches, the oldest of them was built in 1890. The maximum speed on the Krøderen Railway is 30 km/h, and the journey takes one hour each way. The Krøderen Railway has also preserved some diesel railbuses class 87 and class 91. A diesel railcar set runs every Sunday in July and August. The Krøderen Railway can be reached by train from Oslo to Vikersund (trains to and from Bergen).

A diesel rail bus class 87 at Krøderen station. Similar railbuses were used on the railway between 1948 and 1958.

Steam Engines

The museum railway has two operational steam engines. No. 236, class 24b and No. 225 class 21b.

This engine, class 24b, was built by Thune in Oslo in 1912. She is designed to haul freght trains. She has a maximum speed of 45 km/h.

This engine was built by Thune in 1911. Class 21 was very successful, and was designed to haul light  trains. The maximum speed was 70 km/h. Both engines were in service on the Norwegian State Railways to 1970-71. 

 A teak bodied passenger coach at Krøderen station. Note the doors on the middle. This coach has a wheelchair lift on each side and a toilet with wheelchair access. The coach also has a 2nd and a 3rd class compartment.

The museum railway also has a small steam engine. This engine, class 7 No. 11, was built by Manning Wardle & Co in Leeds in 1891. The engine was a shunting engine on Oslo East station. At the moment she is undergoing major maintenance work. 

  The down steam train to Vikersund leaves Snarum. 

 Once a year a special evening train is run between Krøderen and Snarum. The train has no electric lights at all, only petrol lamps. Here is engine No. 225 with the special evening train at Snarum. 

The Flåm Railway

Kjos Water Falls where the trains make a stop.

Every year thousands of tourists travel on the green trains running between Myrdal and Flåm in the western part of Norway. The railway has a gradient at 55 promille (1/18), and is one of the steepest conventional railway lines in the World. (Some of Oslo's underground lines are steeper). The railway is built as a branch line to the main line between Oslo and Bergen, and it took twenty years to build the line. The line opened at August 1st 1940, and in the beginning the trains were hauled by small steam locomotives. Four years later, in October 1944, the line was electrified.

Three electric locomotives class El 9 were built specially for the line the same year. At this time Norway was under Nazi occupation, and the western part of the country was under Border Zone West. All passengers needed a special travel permit. When the war was over the restrictions were lifted.

An electric locomotive class El 9 on the museum in Flåm. The yellow sign on the right indicates the gradient on the railway, 55 promille.

Two trains are crossing at Berekvam.

The Flåm Line train leaving Myrdal for the return down to Flåm

Today most of the passengers on the Flåm Railway are tourists. There is a station at Berekvam where two trains are able to cross. There is also a halt at Vatnahalsen and at Kjos Water Falls. At Myrdal there is connection with corresponding trains towards Oslo and Bergen. The trains on the line consists of passenger coaches class B3. The trains are hauled by electric locomotives class El 17. Because of the steep gradient there is one locomotive in each end of the train.

Here you can read more about the Flåm Railway. 

Welcome to Espen's Norwegian Rail Pages

I have just created this blog. I will here publish articles in English about Norwegian railways. I will also publish some photos. I start with this photo from Kråkstad in Norway. The train set is an Italian-built four-car unit class 72, built in 2002-03.

The photo below is from Haksjön in Sweden, some kilometres from the Norwegian border. The freight train is hauled by an electric locomotive, class El 16, belonging to CargoNet, the Norwegian freight rail company.